The sad thing is that Petco or atleast my petco is doing this "dream betta" thing where you get a any VT male your choice of a Bowl and deco which is one small plant and I am guessing some sort of gravel for 10 bucks so more bettas in small bowls all cause of some stupid dream betta event.

Lucky, when my mom wanted to get bettas she listened to me and they are all in 5 gal tanks.

I have had my share of dumb conversations with the Petco "experts". The worst advice from them have to be for Bettas and Goldfish. I asked once where there Bettas sized tanks where and she pointed to this .5 gal cube tank. I told her I wanted a 2.5-5 gallon tank and she looked at me like I was wasting my money. And I looked a little closer and the 1 gal tanks and noticed they say those are "perfect for Goldfish, they not only survive but they thrive". When will the madness end?

Sadly nothing I've done seems to be able to change their minds. They've even hoping to go to that 'build-a-betta' event and pick up another fish or two. *sigh*

I stopped in another petco the other day to pick up some better pellet food. At least the lady in there was super nice-- she was very informative too to the customers looking at bettas-- and in a very good way.

What really bugs me is that on the corporate level, the living creatures are less important than the profit.

For example, take the 'betta frame tank' (which holds a miniscule amount of water and is so narrow the fish is hard pressed - literally - to turn around) or the 'ipod-ish' mini aquarium, which is even worse. The only living creatures that would possibly live happily in those things are those microscopic critters we studied in grade school - hydras, euglenas and the like!

People who respect every life as an irreplaceable miracle need to educate others. There will always be people who will oppose that point of view - don't let that deter you! Educate others (peacefully) at every opportunity, and you can save untold lives - animal and otherwise.